Ein Ayala ( he, עֵין אַיָּלָה, ''lit.'' Doe Spring) is a semi-cooperative

moshav A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 an ...

in northern Israel. Located at the foot of

Mount Carmel Mount Carmel ( he, הַר הַכַּרְמֶל, Har haKarmel; ar, جبل الكرمل, Jabal al-Karmil), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias ( ar, link=no, جبل مار إلياس, Jabal Mār Ilyās, lit=Mount Saint Elias/Elijah), is a c ...

around 20 km south of Haifa, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Hof HaCarmel Regional Council. In it had a population of .

History

Ein Ayala founded in 1949 by European Jewish immigrants, the majority from the region of Carpathian Ruthenia, once belonged to Czechoslovakia, now part of Ukraine, and the minority from the

Bukovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter BergerT ...

region. They were Hungarian speaking. The founders came to Israel and settled in a

refugee camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peo ...

near

Khirbat Bayt Lid Khirbat Bayt Lid ( ar, خربة بيت لد) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Tulkarm Subdistrict. It was depopulated by its Arab inhabitants during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. History In the 1860s, the Ottoman authorities granted the reside ...

before coming to the site and settling in tents. The moshav was built next to

Ayn Ghazal Ayn Ghazal ( ar, عين غزال, "Spring of the Gazelle") was a Palestinian Arab village located south of Haifa. Depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War as a result of an Israeli military assault during Operation Shoter, the village was t ...

, a Palestinian village depopulated during

Operation Shoter Operation Shoter ( he, מִבְצָע שׁוֹטֵר, ''Mivtza Shoter'', ''lit.'' Operation Policeman), also Operation Jaba', was a three-day Israeli operation during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War against an area called the "Little Triangle" south o ...

in July 1948. Walid Khalidi writes that it is not on Ayn Ghazal land, but that Ein Ayala was founded on land belonging to Kafr Lam, and cultivated land adjacent to

Khirbat al-Sawamir Khirbat al-Sawamir was a Palestinian Arab village in the Haifa Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on May 22, 1948. It was located 22 kilometres south of Haifa. History Burial places cut into rock, and ceramics from ...

. In April 1951 the moshav was incorporated in the newly established Hof HaCarmel Regional Council and granted municipal status. In the early years, the 92 pioneer families found it difficult to earn a livelihood due to lack of agricultural equipment and logistical problems. Although the land around Ein Ayala was deemed highly arable, they had only one cart and no paved roads, making transportation especially difficult during the winter. The moshav received a number of cows from

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, but they arrived during a drought year and did not produce much milk. A delegation of engineers from the Jewish Agency visited the moshav and determined that only 20% of the houses would last another year, as most began to develop cracks. The moshav lacked a kindergarten building for its 60 children and the power supply in the moshav was very limited despite the fact the moshav was close to a high voltage power line. Part of the reason for the crisis was the poor layout. Rather than planning the moshav as a centralized bloc, as was common at the time, it formed a long and narrow strip stretching over two or three kilometers. This made it difficult to reach the grocery store, warehouse, kindergarten etc. Furthermore, the location of the moshav on a plain between the sea and the mountain ridge of

led to flooding in the winter and extremely hot temperatures in the summer. In 2011, TheMarker listed Ein Ayala in the top ten finest communities in Israel where home prices are still reasonable.

References

External links

Official website
{{Hof HaCarmel Regional Council Czechoslovak Jews Romanian-Jewish culture in Israel Ukrainian-Jewish culture in Israel Moshavim Populated places established in 1949 Populated places in Haifa District 1949 establishments in Israel Czech-Jewish culture in Israel Hungarian-Jewish culture in Israel Slovak-Jewish culture in Israel